…
… unfortunately for the Bears, all of the thunder and most of the lightning were produced by the Buckeyes …

Buckeyes
…
… the LIGHTNING …
… came first on Ohio State‘s second play from scrimmage …
… after a Bears punt and illegal block penalty during the return pinned the Buckeyes at their own 6 yard line …
… a 4 yard gain gave OSU a 2nd & 6 at their own 10 …
… from which QB Kenny Guiton found WR Chris Fields streaking behind the Bears secondary and hit him in stride for a 90 yard touchdown (the longest TD pass in Buckeyes history) …
… after another Cal punt, Ohio State had the ball at its own 27, from which HB Dontre Wilson thundered 26 yards to the Cal 47 …
… and then lightning struck again, Guiton hitting WR Devin Smith for a 47 yard touchdown and a 14-0 Buckeyes lead …
… the entire possession lasted just 26 seconds …
… and then just a minute later, Ohio State‘s Ryan Shazier sacked Cal QB Jared Goff, forcing a fumble at the Bears‘ 23 yard line, recovered by OSU…
. … and then lightning struck a third time, Guiton driving his team to yet another score on a 1 yard pass to Fields …
… making the score 21-0 exactly 6:00 into the game …

Cal Defending Against Pass
…
… & the Thunder …
… the Buckeyes ran for 332 yards to just 132 for the Bears…
… with OSU‘s Jordan Hall gashing the defense 30 times for 168 yards, 36 long and 3 TD’s …
… and after Cal closed that disastrous 21-0 start to 24-14 at the end of the first quarter and was hanging tough down 31-20 at halftime …
… the Buckeyes thundered to three straight 3rd quarter TDs on drives of 75, 80 and 41 yards …
… two of the scores coming on runs of 1 and 2 yards by Hall …
… while the Bears managed just one score and fell behind 52-27 …
… before scoring one rather meaningless 4th quarter touchdown on a 1 yard run by HB Daniel Lasco to make the final score 52-34…

Cal Defending Against Run
…
… a Few Bright Spots …
… another strong game by QB Jared Goff, who was 31 of 53 passing for 371 yards, 3 TDs and 1 interception…

Jared Goff Passing
… the return of HB Daniel Lasco, who led the Bears in rushing with 65 yards on 10 carries …
… a big game for WR Chris Harper, who had 6 receptions for 115 yards and a TD …
… some gutsy calls by the coaching staff, including a fake punt on which Goff took the punter’s position and passed for a first down to DB Stefan McClure …
… and the fact that, despite the early adversity, the team never gave up…
…
… Next Up …
… a bye next week …
… followed by Cal‘s first road game of the year, as the Bears travel to Eugene, OR, on September 28th to take on their second straight top 3 team, meeting the #2 ranked Oregon Ducks…

… the Bears lead the all-time series with the Ducks 39-34-2 …
… but the Quackers have won the last four meetings, three of them by lopsided scores …
… and the Bears have recorded only 1 win in Eugene in the last 25 years (31-24 in 2007), while losing 9 times …
…
… Predictions …
… the Bears‘ defense is plagued by injuries, with several key starters missing, a converted wide receiver playing at cornerback and a true freshman at safety …
… which could prove to be a real problem against the high-powered Oregon offense, which rolled to a 59-14 against the previously unbeaten Tennessee Volunteers…
… the 3-0 Ducks won their first two games by even bigger margins, stomping Nicholls State 66-3 and Virginia 59-10 …
… and are early 34 point favorites over the Bears …
… which, sadly, is probably about right …
… even though Jared Goff will have another strong game leading the Cal offense and passing for 300+ yards for the 4th game in a row …
… barring an Oregon letdown or several Ducks turnovers, it seems unlikely that the Bears‘ defense can hold the Ducks under 50 points …
… so the Bears and their fans appear to be in for a long afternoon.
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For the Cal game report, stats, photos and interviews, see:
http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30100&ATCLID=209260525
… and for the ESPN College Football recap, photos & game video, see:
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=332570025
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More Photos:

Cal Band Leading Team Onto Field

Cal Band Drum Major

Go Bears!


Jared Goff Calling Signals

Brendan Bigelow Run

Bears on Defense

Cal Cheerleaders Exhort Fans

Final Score: Ohio State 52 — Cal 34
All Photos in this blog © 2013 Jim Reilly